Longitudinally adjustable shoe tree



Feb. 12, 1963 B. MACK LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTABLE SHOE TREE Filed Feb. 20, 1959 INVENTOR. BERNARD MACK 4 n r TOENEYS itenl ttes York Filed Feb. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 794,722 2 Claims. (Cl. lit-117.4)

The present invention is directed to shoe trees and more particularly to an improved construction thereof which is highly efiicient.

In the past, shoe tree-s have been made of solid wood combined with various metal elements. Such devices were expensive because of the number of parts and they were heavy and unwieldy because of the weight of both wood and metal. A number of metal parts were necessary and such parts had to be made of stainless metals or had to be plated, thereby further increasing the expense.

There also has been on the market shoe trees made entirely of metal. While such devices were lighter than the wood and metal shoe trees, they were still too heavy for convenient use. These shoe trees also required a number of parts and a considerable number of dies for making these parts and a substantial number of operations for the assembly. Here also it was necessary to make the metal parts either of stainless metal or plate the same, or lacquer them in order to prevent rusting and this rendered the product relatively expensive.

The present invention is intended and adapted to overcome the difliculties and disadvantages inherent in prior shoe trees, it being among the objects of the present invention to provide a simple construction made of molded synthetic plastic material of only two pieces, and which is inexpensive to produce.

It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide a shoe tree which is light in weight and which is made of a material which is tough, flexible and resilient.

It is further among the objects of the present invention to provide a design of a shoe tree which lends itself readily for molding purposes, in which the molds are of relatively inexpensive construction and in which the molding operation is rapid and effective.

In practicing the present invention, there is provided a toe portion consisting of a plate having a series of openings at the rear thereof, and having a hollow toe formed integrally with the front end of said plate. There is also provided a heel portion which also consists of a plate, the rear of which has integrally formed the heel of the shoe tree. The front of this plate is curved downwardly and has a stop member formed at the extreme end thereof adapted to fit into the openings or slots in the toe member and engage in the under side of the toe plate.

In the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof, and in which like reference characters indicate like parts,

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the assembled shoe tree made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal cross-sectional view of the shoe tree shown in FIG. 1;

FTG. 3 is an end view thereof taken from the rear of the shoe tree, and

FIG. 4 is a crosssectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

The toe portion or member consists of a first plate 1, the front end 2 of which is rounded and the rear end 3 is squared off. Along the side edges of plate 1 are transverse ribs 4 and 5 extending both above and below plate 1, as shown in FIG. 2. Transverse slots 6 are formed in the rear portion of plate 1 in spaced relation to each other and a hollow box toe 7 is formed integral with the plate at the front thereof. The sides 8 of toe 7 merge at 9 with lateral extensions 10 of plate 1 and depending flange 11 is of approximately the same depth as the lower portions of ribs 4 and S.

The heel portion of the shoe tree consists of a vertical breast member 12, a horizontal contact portion 13, curved sides 14 and rear heel portion 15. The top 16 of the heel is open. Extending from the upper end of breast 12 is a second plate 17, being flat and having a depending flange I8 integral with the sides thereof. The forward part of plate 17 is curved downwardly, the flange terminating at point 19 beyond which a thickened portion 20 extends. A lateral stop 21 is formed at the forward end of thickened portion 20.

As can be seen from the form of the two parts, the molds for producing them are relatively simple so that rapid and inexpensive molding operations are all that are necessary to form the two portions of the shoe tree. In the use thereof, portion 20 is introduced into the proper slot 6, depending upon the size of the shoe. The back 15 is forced past the inner face of the heel of the shoe, which is readily accomplished because of the curvature 14 of the heel.

There are many advantages inherent in the present invention as for example, a single size of shoe tree may be used on many sizes of shoes. The flexibility of the plastic material allows ready insertion and removal of the shoe tree into and from the shoes. The structures of the toe and heel portions are light, yet they are strong by reason of the provisions of the ribs and flanges on the elements. Furthermore, by reason of the resiliency of the material and the shape of the toe 7 and heel 12--15, the shoe tree will conform with various styles and shapes of shoes, particularly in womens shoes. Not only are the parts inexpensive to produce but the assembly is a very simple matter and the shoe tree is eflicie-nt in the use thereof.

I claim:

1. A shoe tree comprising a box toe, a substantially flat first plate integral with said toe and extending rearwardly from said toe, the width of said plate being substantially less than the width of said toe, said extending part having a plurality of spaced transverse slots, said toe being a curved box toe extending upwardly and rearwardly, a separate heel portion, said heel being hollow and open at the top, a second plate extending forwardly from the top of the front of said heel, the front of said second plate being curved downwardly, a stop extending forwardly and angularly from the front end of said second plate and adapted to pass through said slots and engage the under side of said extending part of said first plate.

2. A shoe tree according to claim 1 wherein there are lateral extensions at the front of said first plate merged with the sides of said box toe, the sides of said box toe extending below the horizontal plane of said first plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 160,755 Wearing Oct. 31, 1950 2,456,756 Tietig Dec. 21, 1948 2,644,969 Reser July 14, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 199,736 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1938 360,641 France Mar. 3, 1906 1,090,129 France Oct. 13, 1954 

1. A SHOE TREE COMPRISING A BOX TOE, A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT FIRST PLATE INTEGRAL WITH SAID TOE AND EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM SAID TOE, THE WIDTH OF SAID PLATE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID TOE, SAID EXTENDING PART HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED TRANSVERSE SLOTS, SAID TOE BEING A CURVED BOX TOE EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLY, A SEPARATE HEEL PORTION, SAID HEEL BEING HOLLOW AND OPEN AT THE TOP, A SECOND PLATE EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM THE TOP OF THE FRONT OF SAID HEEL, THE FRONT OF SAID SECOND PLATE BEING CURVED DOWNWARDLY, A STOP EXTENDING FORWARDLY AND ANGULARLY FROM THE FRONT END OF SAID SECOND PLATE AND ADAPTED TO PASS THROUGH SAID SLOTS AND ENGAGE THE UNDER SIDE OF SAID EXTENDING PART OF SAID FIRST PLATE. 